Yelping for what seems like no reason......?

This forum is for dog lovers seeking everyday advice and suggestions on health-related issues. Remember, however, that advice on a public forum simply can't be a substitute for proper medical attention. Only your vet can say assuredly what is best for your dog.

Apollo is yelping like he is in pain for what seems to be no reason. Many things trigger these "attacks", he will be lying down dead asleep, move or twitch and then yelps like someone stepped on his paw. Often bending down to eat or pick up a boy also triggers attacks. Everything else seems fine, he is playful, eating and drinking like normal(other then the random pain), going to the bathroom normally etc. No change in his behavior either, he is still the same old Apollo he always is. To my boyfriend and I it seems like the pain could be in his back, shoulders or neck. We have tried to pinpoint the pain by moving his head side to side, up and down, around, pressing on his shoulders and back lightly to see if his reacts to no avail.

He has been to see a vet who couldn't figure it out, mostly because no matter what we did he would NOT yelp while we were there, of course right? He said Apollo must have pulled a muscle and to put him on rest. He was resting for 3 months, the most strenuous thing he did was go for on leash walks in an attempt to get some energy out(vet approved). It seemed to lessen and then come back for no reason and has not stopped to date. He has another appointment to the vet on Monday but was wondering if anyone else has had this happen so I could possibly make some suggestions to our vet.
Thank you in advance for any help!

Has the vet done any x-ray's? If he /she hasn't they probably should arthritis or a pinched nerve from calcium deposits could be a reason for this and should be ruled out if it hasn't been and we hope the vet is able to find the problem and help your pup. It's hard to see them in pain and not know why it's happening.

Please let us know what's up and keep us posted on his progress,thanks!

It's definitely hard to pinpoint a painful area on some dogs. They are so stoic about it. Chloe would yelp when she moved a certain way but we couldn't duplicate it ourselves. She was quiet as could be when the vet moved her leg/hip. The vet then said her knee was hurting her. When I asked how she could tell it was Chloe's knee and not her hip the vet said because Chloe held her breath when she moved her knee but kept panting when her hip was moved.

I don't know if you could "anticipate" a yelping situation or not but when my mom couldn't get her Thomas to exhibit an unusual "wheezing" type noise at the vet's office we videoed an attack at home. Once we played it for the vet he was able to figure out exactly what was going on. Just a thought.